The administration of an aqueous slurry of activated charcoal has been recognized as an effective treatment for acute toxic ingestion. The activated charcoal is a highly efficient, non-specific absorbent of a large variety of toxic substances. This treatment may be effected by non-skilled personnel in the home or workplace or it may be administered by skilled medical personnel in an emergency medical facility, poison control center or the like.
A major drawback to this use of activated charcoal has been its unpleasant appearance and flavor and unpalatable grainy texture. These factors have often caused children and adults to spew out or vomit the suspension, limiting its effectiveness and creating cleanup problems.
To eliminate the untoward effects of the unpleasant appearance of the black charcoal suspension, I developed a container system for administration as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/238,969 in which a prepared mixture of activated charcoal suspension is provided in an opaque container and ingested through use of an opaque straw so that the patient does not observe the black color.
The obvious solution to the unpleasant flavor of the activated charcoal slurry would be to incorporate a pleasant flavoring component but the highly absorbent nature of the charcoal causes it to complex with these flavoring materials thus eliminating the flavor. Efforts to overcome the grittiness and sweeten the product by adding natural sugars such as dextrose were unsuccessful because to avoid bacterial and mold growth in the suspension the concentration of dextrose must be such as to make the sweetened suspension too thick to draw through a straw.
The present invention is accordingly directed toward a method and apparatus for administering an aqueous charcoal slurry that overcomes the grittiness and unpleasant flavor of the plain slurry, masks the unpleasant appearance of the charcoal, yet is simple to administer and low in cost.